Despite being part of the main family, these two hellions don't get a lot of attention. As a result, we weren't able to see their unfinished growth in the later part of the series...that never got produced.
Recently, this video has gotten a lot of comments asking about why we would be so harsh on Shapey and Block, who some consider autistic. Here’s the thing. While they do have some similar traits to autistic children, this has never been confirmed by the show itself or the creator. Therefore, as many others have pointed out in the comments, it’s only a theory. In fact, the show itself implies that the reason they act like this is because of neglect, and this being the best (and possibly only) way for them to get attention. So while I understand why some consider them autistic, I don’t as there is no confirmation of this. If you believe that, that’s fine. Just know that it’s not exactly canon without outright proof. It does make for a decent theory though.
@@TheVorran How was this harsh? At no point in the video were Shapey or Block insulted or mocked as inherently bad. On the contrary, it's pointed out multiple times that their objectively horrible behavior isn't their fault. Neglect and abuse in childhood can and often does cause kids to act out and cause all sorts of problems. I have some relatives that were unfortunately "holy terrors" as kids due to neglect. It's not cruel to point out an objective fact. It *would* be cruel to blame the kids for their behavior, which this video never did.
@@11HyperZim11 It's a Community reference. Creator of Moral Orel, Dino Stamatopoulos played "Starburns" on Community, who would often correct people who called him by his unwanted nickname.
Fun Fact: Shapey and Block are voiced by the creator's daughter. "When I'm thirsty, it feels how I feel when I'm alone." was apparently something she said to him once when she was little.
You're not overthinking it, Block and Shapey learned to communicate together. Shapey is so violently neglected, evident by the fact that his room is pretty much treated like a storage attic, that he hasn't been able to learn how to speak properly. He's seen mimicking Orel in the episode with Bartholomew the dog. At the time it seemed like he was making fun of Orel. But then when Bloberta takes Shapey back home, him and Block quickly start to talk. They're using what words they do know together. They're not screaming. They're conversing. They both say "mine" together in a way that I believe can only be described as acknowledgement and understanding. It's a truly beautiful character arc.
It’s super fucked up but true. They are developmentally disabled due to neglect. This happens in the real world, and most children who are abused like this rarely get the care they need. And… even if they do the prognosis of coming back from it is not great.
Shapey and Block were one of the many plot threads or characters they began to explore in season 3 that they planned to explored in seasons 4 and 5 just before the forced early ending.
The creator should continue the story via comics or something I want more of orel, I want to see Orels borhter happy ending and Doughy a happy ending. Someone should start a petition to adult swim.
@@zemox2534 to add to that she probably felt like it was the “correct moral decision” commentary on the fact that a mothers moral obligation to love her children is not the same thing as her ACTUALLY loving her children
@@anib8863 not just a best friend, a brother ❤️ I would have been so much worse off with my family trauma if it wasn’t for being able to share that experience with my siblings.
Coach Stopframe got Bloberta pregnant with Shapey because he knew Clay would hate Bloberta for cheating on him (but not figure out the father was Coach Stopframe). The endgame was for him to leave Bloberta and be pushed into Stopframe's arms, and if you watch the Christmas special, it almost works.
But that doesn't change the fact that he satyed in the marriage when he knows that shapey isn't his, well too bad for Coach stopframe his works of evil doesn't do him a favor after all even IF he got 2 people who is married in his hand.
The reason why Bloberta spoiled Shapy and Block because she inherited her mother's bad behavior of spoiling her youngest child. Bloberta's mom spoiled her youngest child. Bloberta did the same thing like her mother. Both Clay and Bloberta are terrible parents.
Oh i thought they favored their kids because they correlated favoritism with the amount of pleasure they had conceiving them (yes I believe her brother was the product of an affair as well) that makes more sense now.
Fun fact: Orel and Christina weren't the only two people that noticed that Shapey and Block were swapped. It's implied that Clay was also aware of the switch. He just didn't care.
It's funny, because they live right next door. So why the hell didn't Orel or Christina just walk their brother next door, and make the switch back? Lol.
@@screamingphoenix8113Because Moralton is all about conformity and false public images, and doing that would have been a public admission of wrongdoing.
Moral Orel would be HUGE if it came out today. With the success of shows like F is For Family and Bojack Horseman with more real, depressing tones, and the western world in general being less religious than it was 10-15 years ago, no way it wouldn't be right up there with those shows if more people knew about it.
It's funny because when I was a kid I refused to watch any of this show be because I thought it was more religious crap that was already getting shoved down my throat from my family. I just recently figured out this show was the opposite and grown to love it, wishing I watched it back then
@Herr Goober That's not what they said. This show obviously has some religious satire and seems to have been created by people with agnostic/atheist ideals but it only really criticizes the bad parts of Christianity that lead people to be bigoted or excuse their immorality with their faith. From what we see at the end Orel seems to grow up to be a good person while still holding onto his religion. It's not necessarily anti-religion.
I noticed in the Bartholomew episode, Clay lightly smacks Shapey in the pew when the Reverend mentions" Love". Given how this was what Clay saw as acknowledgement from his father, it might have been a twisted sign of love from Clay. Also, it seems expected of all the moralton women to spoil their sons.
I think Clay and Bloberta knew about Shapey and Block switching places but silently agreed to ignore it because this way, they could have a roughly analogous child that's neither of theirs, as oppose to Shapey who is Bloberta's but not Clay's
Bloberta definitely didn't know they switched places. It takes her realizing he didn't look like Coach Stopframe for her to figure it out, and track him down to get him back
Something I noticed in the end scene with Adult Orel: the pics with Shapey and Block were brighter, more vibrant, whereas the picture with the parents was... pallid. Looking into it... the kids grew up alright, but the parents were still in a bad place.
I personally believe that Block is the product of infidelity, but instead of on the mother it was the father, and this is the reason why he was abandoned by his 'mother' and the potential reason he would want to return with the Pupingtons(as his mother would likely abuse him as well as neglect him).
@@MoonshineTheDragThing Well if he breast fed from his step mother it wouldn't be that far of a stretch that he would breastfeed from an adopted mother.
@@benjaminnihilnovi6283 oh I didn't think he was breastfeeding from a step mother because I thought she couldn't produce milk because she didn't give birth the year he was born.
not the case because the special "before orel" shows coach stopframe and bloberta having sex and she gives birth to shapey later in the episode. Besides this, at the end of season 1, Clay says he didn't even touch Bloberta and was mad about how she got pregnant.
It's extremely sweet knowing that in the end, both Shapey and Block grew up to have respectful occupations, and are on good terms with Orel and his family.
@@gallifreyanknight1355 We’re currently looking for Voice Actors if you’re interested. We made a community list a few weeks back with the available roles. Rev Putty has already been cast.
@@gallifreyanknight1355 To save you the trouble of hunting it down, I’ll post it here. •Orel •Stephanie •Florence •Dottie •Nurse Bendy We will also have an official announcement video next week or so with more information.
i'm happy to see everyone get what they wanted.... except clay. he deserves where he is. i have a theory that shapey and block end up bonding with orel, noticing how different he's been acting after the hunting trip. orel, realizing he doesn't want to be like his dad, starts by improving his little brothers lives somehow. orel by episodes end proudly calls block and shapey as his true family.
I think Orel would start doing right where his father did wrong, being the one to give them genuinely good life lessons that he’s had to learn by himself.
@@auxiliomedesmayocallesevie1718 on the final episodes credits Orel is seen wrapping his stop motion stuff as a gif and labeling the gift as block and shapey
Shapey and Block probably were able to get *some* parenting from Bloberta. Even though they were undisciplined and poorly tempered, they still expressed empathy for their mom. By the end of the show, they were really starting to show just general awareness about the people around them. They weren’t just nonsensical screaming machines. So while they were perpetual children thanks to Bloberta constantly babying them, they at the very least managed to learn some form of empathy just though being cared for at all. Once Bloberta leaves Clay (assuming she does as the original story was meant to go), she almost certainly would take Shapey and Block with her. Once she did that, they’d be just in time to receive a much better father who actually cares about them. On top of that, Bloberta (actually being happy for the first time in her life) might actually start becoming a good mother. Resulting in them becoming well rounded adults.
How do you think Bloberta and the boys would treat Florence and the Officer's daughter? Granted, Orel, Shapey and Block would welcome a sister with open arms but how would Bloberta feel about her?
I do know if a revival was attempted, one actor would almost be guarantied absent. Jay Johnston (Coach stopframe and miss censordoll) has unfortunately dropped off the face of the earth recently since becoming a person of interest to the FBI (long story short, Jay was part of the insurrectionist movement on January 6th and may or may not have been part of the actually attack on the capitol) Since then, his career has pretty much completely died and there is a rumor that he is actually in hiding or on the lamb. No one has been able to confirm exactly where he is and if he has been charged with anything, which makes him extremely unlikely to reprise any of his voices.
@@GazingTrandoshan it's not currently known. I think he's said he didn't enter, but I also think the FBI had his picture up, which led to his identification, so I'm not sure. Guess it's one of those things that we may never know or at least won't know for awhile. He was kinda a c or d list celebrity anyways, so I doubt it will get more press than it already has, so I don't we'll see anyone run a follow up story about how this ended.
I was way too young when moral Orel came out (I think I was in elementary when it came out). This is something that would’ve won me over in a heartbeat if I saw it in high school. I’m slowly getting through the show with hbo max.
Moral Orel should have had better. I really hope we can get more some day. This was a very well constructed video and I'm happy to see more people discussing the show. The points that you made I think really do hold true and it makes a lot of sense. You did a really great job and I think you painted the boys in the right light. Also, I'd like to mention, Putty fell in love with Florence and was sad to see that she lost weight. He loved her as she was. I think that's really important for his character growth and if you haven't already, I'd really love to see someone talk about him growing as a person.
This was a good video and I look forward to seeing you analyze Moral Orel further. Considering what a hit Bojack Horseman was and how it showed that animated adult dramadies can work, I would love to see a Moral Orel reboot.
It’s too thought provoking, they won’t allow it because ultimately the show will influence better behavior among us. This show could have stretched a dozen years easy. It’s too thought provoking is why they canceled it.
Sadly the creator himself has said he doesn’t want to finish the show after it being cancelled and said he wouldn’t in the future. Hopefully he changes his mind
I think part of the reason they were able to mature a little during the Christmas Episode (or at least stop putting themselves in danger and using tantrums to gain attention) is because they had each other. Before they became brothers the two boys had no one in their lives that cared about them outside of Orel. No friends or parents or other caregivers to stop them from hurting themselves or give them the attention and affection they desperately craved. But by becoming brothers they have finally found someone who understands them, literally and figuratively, and is willing to stay with them and give them unconditional affection and friendship. I think that if the series was able to finish out it would have shown the growing bond between all three of the Puppington brothers and how they were able to grow into their own and in their own ways break the cycle of abuse. The fact that in the Christmas Episode grown up Orel has pictures of every member of his immediate family shows how he really does care for them, even his parent despite their abuse and neglect.
1:50 "the coach did this to get closer to clay but i dont know how" its because if he gave bloberta a child not only would he be forever conjoining himself to the puppington family but also serves to wedge apart bloberta and clay. stopframe is a truly evil character and probably one of the worst in all of moral orel
I always assumed Shapy had a developmental disorder, that his behavior was the result of his brain never developing past a certain stage, not necessarily a purely behavioural issue. But then again, I never really got into the show, it just didn't interest me.
Yeah same, I always believed he was supposed to be a joke on how some Christians don't believe in mental illness and stuff like autism and that's why he was never paid attention to
Either that or he has brain damage from all the abuse and neglect. We see the stuff he gets into as a seven-year-old that no one watches--what about when he was a baby and had a soft spot to fall on when he ran around? And if Bloberta didn't want or care about her pregnancy, she might have done something dangerous that could have caused developmental delays.
This my THEORY of what happened to Oral moral. 1. Bloberta and Clay will get divorce the moment his rival (i forgot her name) will won the election. 2. Bloberta will seek a child support from Coach stopframe for shapey but then he run away (this just my assuming) 3. The police and Bloberta will have somehow a friendship since the Police made it clear that he still in love with his ex wife but somehow he will be a father figure for both Shapey, blockey and Oral 4. OR blobberta and Clay will still the same because as we saw on the hint clue they still looks like hey were still together (or not) 5. The moment Oral, Shapey and blockey turned 18 they will leave the house and seek therapy ( assuming as they cope with their traumas and become a better person)
I think shapey speaking about loneliness (and existing in general) reflects the state of the entire family, shapey is destructive to himself and others much like how everyone in family behaves just the same but through religion and trauma. block I think, represents the entire town itself in the same way, and how shapey influences block to behave when we see him have block help to destroy shapeys room or play with blobertas "tools" on the stairs or during the scene where they stab bloberta as she puts her hands on the boiling grease. both are agents of chaos because they're reflecting the puppington's relationship with morelton and vis versa. block got stuck with shapey and the puppingtons because that's essentially what happens in real life, the town is stuck with clay's pathetic iron fist as mayor, bloberta's manipulative antics trying to sleep with any man that'll have her, and orel's crazy antics in each episode. block becoming a puppington could represent how they molded this town into misery-ridden chaos. and with the two of them by the end of the show becoming more behaved and as seen in the future flashforward, they become upstanding citizens, to imply the town of moralton and the puppington family have grown up and become whatever moralton considers normal again (the puppington family not so much since bloberta and clay hate each other along with orel and everyone else hating clay as well). or they're just two rambunctious kids who eventually grew up
As much as I would love for Moral Orel to return I don't think Dino S. Wants to. He's moved on and unfortunately I feel like if it gets brought back now rather than being seen as one of the pioneers for adult animation/claymation that it is it'll get lumped in with the rest. Just want it back out there and a DVD box set with commentary and the script and notes for the unfinished seasons. I recall one with Miss Sclupthem going to visit the prison actually almost marries a rapist with approval but when she tried to marry a female prison guard it was denied. That commentary that a convicted rapist had more rights than a law abiding gay cop was strong but that episode wouldn't hold the same weight now as it did then.
For whatever reason, i always assumed what Shapey says is something he heard Clay drunkenly say during one of his emotional rants. So much more wholesome to know it was just some silly thing the creator's daughter told him once.
I guess they could frame the seasons that we're supposed to happen as Moral explaining to his children why he doesn't like going back to where he grew up or recollecting all the events when he takes them there on a family trip. The town could be in abandoned and in ruins, it could be completely different and inhabited by a completely new population (like many small towns eventually become once the younger generations move away from it and the older generation passes away) or it could be completely unchanged with all the older citizens perpetually stuck in their delusion.
Thank you SO much for making this video. Without it, I still wouldn't know that Beforel Orel exists and is hosted on Vimeo, on the director, Duke Johnson's channel. Such an underrated show... A heartfelt lesson on the meanings of faith and hypocrisy. Why the hell can't I get any of my friends to try it out??
I feel like it shouldn't be ruled out that the timeline of when Shapey &Block had their bonding episode might've happened from when Shapey was returned home to the Easter Sunday service, also I don't know, considering that there are different ways of communication besides spoken language, seeing their bonding done visually I think it could have been pulled off,
I can't wait to talk about Nurse Betty and how she goes from town 403 to a troubled mother who wants to have some people who she can care for and not hurt her.
God I hope they bring back this show! I loved it when it was on adult swim and with how everything is going on now I need me some perspective on life and this show really thought me perspective.
I’ve watched Moral Orel for years and when I was younger I always hated Shapey but when I rewatched it recently I realized I actually love him. I started watching this show when I was a kid and I only really started to love it as a teenager.
I did a little bit of research and somehow I think Block's biological father could be Bloberta's little brother, Lunchbox... ...I mean this could explain why Block and Shapey may have a close connection like they're cousins or something... ...or am I just saying that because they both have red hair?
Not like it really matters but I honestly just thought she coddled shapey because she was shown to actually have feelings for Coach stop frame and it's her only way to feel like she still has a connection to him. She never really liked clay and that could be why even though both of her kids are neglected, she pays more attention to shapey than oral. And if they already had clays and/or blobertas backstory from the beginning of the series it could've just been a parallel to their parents relationship with them; clays mom spoiling clay and leaving her husband neglected and clay now being in his dad's place and bloberta spoiling her youngest like her mom would spoil her youngest
Block and Shapey are a lot like Clay despite not beinng blood related. Both are mentally stunted due to their doting mothers and act much younger than they were. Like Clay's mom treating him like he's 6 when he was 12, and Bloberta treating Shapey like he's 3 when he's 7.
You would think Bloberta would notice a little earlier considering she was still internally chasing the Danielle dragon and Shapy's resemblance to him was all she reallt had left at that point in her daily life. If one of the guys you are thirsting over looks like your kid, you'd think him no longer resembling that guy would be noticed after a couple glances..
I follow Dino on Instagram and a couple months ago, he addressed whether Moral Orel was ever gonna get a reboot. Unfortunately, he confirmed that it most likely won’t happen unless he gets “desperate enough” or something for anything like that to happen-I can’t remember his exact wording. He politely requested that folks try to stop asking him that question. But I’d say that us Oreltons are passionate enough to be the original reasoning behind why it may, someday, become a higher possibility. 🤞🏾 With that as motivation, I think we should at least attempt to convince him to get his team together to put those unused scripts to good use and produce the lost episodes once and for all. ✊🏽 The plot holes will be filled and we can finally stop bugging poor Dino about his unfinished legendary legacy.🤣🤞🏽👌🏽
@@galacticcactus5530 The kids definitely have a developmental delay, from either from born mental disability, negligence or both. even if they were born neurotypical, they ended up gaining a disability due to awful parenting hurting their development. It was very heartwarming that in the ending it indicates both shapey and block overcome their poor childhood development to where they are functioning adults to the extent they are able to have happy lives and a fulfilling career.
I'm gonna have a hot-take right now, Shapey and Block are Lucas And Claus Or Vice-Versa since Moral Orel came out 9 months before mother 3 was released.
11:06 they might not be allowed to, it might be in the same weird limbo position as some shows like Megas XLR. the general story for Megas XLR goes that CN wrote it off on their taxes as a flop, and in order to start producing content for the show again they'll have to pay some legal fees and repay those taxes. i have no idea if this story is actually true or not, but if it is Moral Orel is likely in a similar kind of limbo.
As awesome as a proper conclusion would be, it's been so long that i can't imagine the creators being in the same headspace to do it justice. Like, it (a theoretical reboot) might be a placeholder of a finishing season, but it could never be what it would have been. If that makes sense.
A not so fun fact is that the reason why Shapey can barely form proper sentences except from screaming and such is because Bloberta and Clay neglected him so badly when he was a baby. Bloberta only have him attention (if you could even call it that) when he needed to eat but nothing else, which drastically stunted his intellectual growth and development except for physical. Only goes to show that Clay and Bloberta (AND COACH STOPFRAME, deadbeat ass) is the sole reason why Shapey was the way he was.
Well remember how in the back of the car shape hit is head a bunch of times? Could be brain damage. And bloberta always sprays him with spray which could also be a a part of it
i really hope they someday try to pick this back up, because honestly, i'd love to see this show evolve the way it was supposed to instead of being cut short the way that it was
I think some people forget that Shapey and Joe are technically cousins. Coach Danielle and Nurse Bendy are mentioned to be brother and sister by coach Stopframe himself. Shapey and Joe display a similar kind of rowdiness and stilted mental age/ intellect like Bendy. It makes me wonder if it's something commonly involved with their genetics or the way that they were raised.
1:54 which episode has younger orel and baby shapey? i dont remember that in the 3 seasons but i could have missed it or it could have been from a episode not on youtube?
I hope they bring this show back and give us the two seasons that they cut, as well as the rest of season 3. (It was supposed to be 20 eps but they only released 13.)
Just wanted to note that it’s a little bit insensitive to claim that Shapey and Block could ONLY bond if they were talking to each other!! I don’t think that’s entirely necessary, and it could probably still be a sort of “silent episode” with both continuing to be nonverbal. Not that I *don’t* think the producers would make shapey and block speak for an episode with that subject, I just think it could still be done without either talking- and knowing Moral Orel, they may have taken that route instead of doing it the “easy way”
The beginning of their maturing, IMO, was when they met each other. All the neglect they suffered from their families was tempered by the friendship and affection they could get from each other. You could see it starting to develop as they became less destructive together than when they were alone.
I get the impression that Shapey and Block might’ve been autistic and why some of their behaviors were seen as they were on the show. But definitely the neglect they both went through shaped them to be that way.
I really wish we got this character development for these 2. As someone who was a bit coddled growing up (not nearly as bad as these 2, but still), I basically had to grow up by my own volition, and figure things out on my own. It comes with a lot of setbacks, but you come to understand what maturity is on a deep level that I think most people miss.
I love that this show doesn't make fun of God like you'd think it would upon first glance. It doesn't talk down to its audience like some Reddit user screaming, "You believe in sky daddy and you're stupid!" The show's beef isn't with Jesus, but with the people who incorrectly and hypocritically misinterpret His word. And yes, it's a bit sacreligious, but as far as I can tell, not to the point of mocking God.
they become a fireman and a cop in the end I LOVE IT! (In the end of HONOUR.You will see clay and bloberta...and 2 more "unknown" people...I assume it's Block and Shapey because of the hair and the color!)
